Comment by soraminazuki 3 days ago
Conservatism before Trump was George W Bush, and while they're very different, it definitely wasn't all sunshine and roses. I don't remember a time in my lifetime when conservatism represented anything good.
However, my entire life Republicans have been the party the KKK is happy to vote for. For a long time that was dismissed as not a problem because they were seen as a fringe, but people pointed out that if your party platform is attractive to the KKK, that is a problem -- you have to kick those people out or they invite their friends and their friends bring worse and worse people.
Lo and behold, the KKK contingent took over the entire party, to the point Liz Cheney (of all people) got kicked out. And the KKK, neo-Nazis, neo-feudalists, Christian nationalists fringes banded together in common cause.
So yes, the Republican party doesn't look like it did 40 years ago, but at the same time it looks exactly like it did 40 years ago.
I'm a boomer, so I at least remember a time when it was at least more consistently about some sort of values. The Republican party has been through so many changes since then.